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ERP

May 2025 Market Intel

2025.05 Fidelis Market Intel

 

US National Unemployment Remained Steady at 4.2%

The US national unemployment rate remained steady at 4.2%. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 139,000 in May, similar to the average monthly gain of 149,000 over the past 12 months. The total number of unemployed persons remained at 7.2 million. In May, 1.5 million people were considered long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27+ weeks); long-term accounts for 20.4% of all unemployed people. In May, the labor force participation rate decreased to 62.4%. and the employment-population ratio decreased slightly to 59.7%.

Job Growth Sectors:

The following industry sectors saw notable job change in May:

  • Healthcare (+62K)
  • Leisure and Hospitality (+48K)
  • Social Assistance (+16K)
  • Government (-22K)

In May, healthcare led job growth reflects strong demand for medical professionals. Leisure and hospitality jobs increased as travel and entertainment remained steady, while social assistance grew in order to support essential services.

In contrast, government employment declined, likely due to budget shifts and seasonal changes. Overall, service industries continue to drive job growth, with healthcare and hospitality leading the way.

Wage Growth:

Average hourly earnings increased by 0.4% in May, maintaining a trend of wage growth over the past 12 months.

Educational Attainment:

  • Unemployment for persons with less than a high school diploma decreased to 5.5%. This sector remains the highest unemployment rate based on level of education.
  • High school graduates with no college increased slightly to 4.5% in May.
  • Those with some college decreases slightly to 3.3%
  • Bachelor’s degree and higher remained the lowest group and changed little to 2.6%.

Major Markets

  • Of the top 5 major US markets, DFW unemployment remained the lowest at 3.5%.
  • 4 out of 5 US markets had a MoM decrease.
  • Of the top 5 major US markets, Houston and Los Angeles saw the largest YoY decrease in unemployment of 20 bps.

Employment Changes in Key Metropolitan Areas

Over the year, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 20 metropolitan areas, decreased in 1 area, and was essentially unchanged in 366 areas

The most significant employment gains occurred in:

  • New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA: Added 96,100 jobs.
  • Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX: Gained 52,100 jobs.
  • Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD: Increased by 35,800 jobs.

 

Sometimes Bad Press is Just Bad Press

Still being ‘green’ to the IT/ERP world, I am shocked by certain realities more than my coworkers. This was especially true when a coworker shared a link with me last week about a consulting firm sending people to work in the US illegally. Did you read the same story? The firm is InfoSys. Again, since I am still absorbing the ins and outs of the business this was a firm I had seen on a couple of resumes but never really heard anything about. Probably because we do more staff aug and they do more implementation/project bids.

Either way, the article was about a wistleblower within the company who claims InfoSys is sending consultants to the US on B-1 visas. With these visas they are supposed to be attending training or conventions, etc. but they are NOT allowed to work in the US. From what I understand on the matter, this is the main difference between a B-1 visa and a H1-B visa: the legal ability to work in the United States.

So this company is being accused of sending thousands of consultants to the US and placing them on projects InfoSys bid on but paying them on bank cards from their headquarters in India. So not only are they legally not able to work on these projects, they aren’t even paying taxes on their salary because they are being paid from India.

Again, as naive as I still am, I could not believe this is happening within the industry! And at the end of the story, the author says there was a lawsuit filed against another company for allegedly committing the same crimes. So what about the people on H1-B visas, EAD’s, Green Cards, T9’s and US Citizens who followed the rules? I guess we’ll find out as the investigation continues. What will the punishment be and do you think this will change the way the industry is run?

Have you even seen the story? I never saw it on Yahoo, MSN, Google or any other outlet so if it weren’t for my coworker, we would also be in the dark. Pass this around, share with your friends and coworkers in the industry.

Whistleblower calls out IT giant over U.S. jobs

Until next time,
Casidy